Shin AnIn: Animal Instinct II
by The All Real Numbers Symbol
Summary: Count D flees America and ends up in Neo Chinatown, located not so far from the suburbs where a certain cafe is located. When Kish and the other aliens left, the Mews expected to go back to normal lives, but that was before a new cat girl showed up, along with new aliens. Now with the help of Count D and another old friend, the Mews will have to save the world and a comrade.
1. Chapter 1

**XXXX**

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 **Shin AnIn: Animal Instinct II**

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 **Summary** : Count D flees America and winds up in Neo Chinatown, located not so far from the suburbs of the city where a particular cafe is located. When the aliens had been sent home, the Mew crew expected to go back to normal lives, but that was before the new cat girl showed up, along with new aliens. Now with the help of Count D and another old friend, the Mews will have to save the world and one of their own.

 **Genre** : Drama/Friendship

 **Rating** : T

 **Disclaimer** : I own copies of the mangas in question here, but that's it.

 **[A/N:]** About halfway through writing AnIn before my extensive hiatus, the idea occurred to me that I could do a sequel to it. At the time though I wasn't getting the response I'd hoped for for AnIn, and that depressed me and I shelved the idea of a sequel. But now my muse is back in the PSoH fandom, and while it's here I guess I might as well work. I'm not going to promise no hiatuses, though.

* * *

The sky was filled with a swam of angry crows; the girl dressed in dark colors in front of them flapped her arms as though she too was a crow, and sent forward a gust of wind that sent the girl in white falling to the ground.

"I will never allow you to claim the prince's heart!"

"Cut!" The director shouted. "Mint, your portrayal of Kraehe is excellent, I can tell you're really getting into the part. But we've got a problem."

"What's that?" Mint asked.

"Those crows!" The set designer popped out of nowhere. "I didn't realize what those crows looked like to the audience! That has to be fixed!"

"We've been practicing with the set pieces all morning, so let's call it a day." The director said. "Everyone, I'll expect you tomorrow afternoon. And don't forget that we have a costume rehearsal coming up."

"If the costumes are done." Mint muttered.

"I'm sure they will be." Susumu Kaida, who was playing Princess Tutu, said as she got back to her feet. "I'm not looking forward to mine, though. I don't know how I'll dance with those panels hanging down the back of my tutu."

"Very carefully?" Mint grinned.

Kaida gave her a wry look. "Funny."

"If we're done early I'll be able to get to the café on time." Mint said. "I'll get Azumi if she's done and take her with me, too."

"If you see Akasaka-san, tell him I said thank you for the cookies. They were really good."

* * *

Neo Chinatown was bustling with activity, from those perusing the shops to the beginning lunch rush for the restaurants.

It was through the bustle of humanity that Count D moved, making his way through the throngs with the long ease of a practiced skill. It was almost time for tea and he had just discovered that he was low on tea leaves.

Of course, there were plenty of stores in Neo Chinatown that sold just that, and so he was out shopping, even as he knew that Taizu was finding out the store was closed and no doubt having a fit over it.

With the place as busy as it was, bumping into people was to be expected, but D knew how to move through the crowds to keep form doing that…

…so it was quite a surprise when someone crashed into him from behind, knocking him forward a step or too but otherwise leaving him unharmed. The same did not sound like it could be said of the other party in the crash; he had heard as he was shoved forward a brief cry and the sound of someone sitting down hard.

He turned around to see a girl in a pink maid costume and roller blades, sitting on the floor behind him, a pastry box a victim on the ground by her, and then he recognized her.

"Miss Berry?"

The blonde girl looked up at him and gasped. "Count D! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you."

"It's alright. What are you doing here."

Berry Shirayuki picked up the fallen pastry box and got back to her feet. "Ryou gave us permission to test a delivery service for the café, so that's what I'm doing. Oh, wait!" She pulled a stop watch from a hidden pocket in her dress and stopped it. "There, now I can talk. I wouldn't want Ryou or Akasaka thinking this was too far from the café to deliver. But what are you doing here, Count?"

"The pet shop is here now. I have a store on the thirteenth floor of this building." D explained.

"Oh. He said you'd left Los Angeles, but no one knew where you'd gone." Berry said contemplatively.

"He?" The Count asked sharply.

"Detective Orcot. He came by the café a while ago to ask about you, but none of us knew you were here." Berry explained.

"How long ago did he come by?" D asked.

"Uh…" The rabbit-girl paused and put a finger to her chin. "It was awhile ago. Let me see…he came by before Ichigo went with Masaya to England for a year as an exchange student, so that would have been at least a year ago. Maybe longer."

"And he hasn't been back since?"

"No." Berry shook her head. "We haven't seen him since then." If she didn't know better, she would have said that D looked relieved at that news.

"Miss Berry, would you like to come by the shop? I'm on my way to get some tea leaves at the moment for tea-time. Or are you still working?"

"Thanks for the offer, Count, but I have to deliver this and get back to the café. But come by the café sometime! I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you again!"

D smiled. "I will do that." Then his smile vanished. "But you're sure the detective has not been by since the one visit?"

"Pretty sure." Berry told him. "He made a splash when he turned up out of the blue like that. If he had come back someone would have noticed him. I mean, at the very least Zakuro would smelled him out, I'm sure."

"Alright. I will come by as soon as I am able."

"Great! I'll let Akasaka and the others know to expect you." Berry pulled the stopwatch out of her pocket and started it again. "I have to get going. See you later, Count! Don't forget to come by the café!" She called as she rolled away.

D watched her go for a moment, then turned to continue his shopping. At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind him. "Aha! There you are! Your shop is supposed to be open!"

XXX

"Are you quite satisfied that I purchased nothing illegal now that you've followed me all over Neo Chinatown?" D asked as he swept back into the pet shop, Taizu and Chin right behind him.

Taizu didn't look happy as he sat down and pulled out a cigarette. "You spent the whole afternoon shopping when the store should have been open."

"I was out of tea." The count noted mildly.

"But you didn't shop just for tea! You did a bunch of extra shopping!" Taizu complained as Chin lit his cigarette for him. "And the store should have been open!"

The knock on the door at that moment stymied any further conversation, and D went to answer it. "Miss Berry. I'm surprised to see you again." He said, and stood out of the way so that she could rollerblade into the shop.

"I came back a little sooner than I expected." The blonde admitted. "When everyone at the café heard you were back in Tokyo, Akasaka sent me back. He asked me to bring you this and to tell you to please come by the café soon." She held out a cake box with the Café Mew Mew name emblazoned on the side.

"A cake!" D exclaimed as he accepted the box. "He shouldn't have! Tell Keiichiro that I'll be by. I don't know when but, sometime soon."

"Will do!" Berry promised.

"Café Mew Mew? The café owned by the billionaire scientist Shirogane Ryou?" Wu-Fei asked.

"Well…he's the only Shirogane I know." Berry said.

"He won the Nobel prize for medicine at the age of seventeen." Chin noted.

"Yes!" Berry said. "But he's expecting me back. I have to go. Bye, Count! Be sure and come by soon."

As soon as she was gone, Wu-fei asked D incredulously, "You know Shirogane Ryou?"

* * *

The moon was high over the city that evening when the lizard-like creature reared its head up over the street below and roared.

"Ribbon…Minto Echo!"

"Ribbon…Pudding Ring Inferno!"

The monster was knocked back and trapped by the two attacked, and another girl, dressed in black, stepped out of the shadows.

"Rising Dragon Lighting Bolt!"

With a dying roar the monster was defeated.

"Where are these things coming from?" Mint asked as she landed.

"Pudding doesn't know." The monkey-girl said as she straightened up.

Mint sighed. "I hope Shirogane has figured out a little more about these things." Then she turned to the girl in black. "You did great, Azumi."

The black-clad cat-girl shrugged. "Well I've been fighting them for awhile now, Mint. I just didn't know Tokyo Mew Mew was fighting them, too."

Masaru, a tiny black creature that resembled Masha, flew down a moment later. "Good work ladies. This Baku's done."

"Masaru, do you know why these things are coming here?" Mint asked the creature.

"All I know is the Baku want something from this world." Masaru replied. "Until I figure out what, I don't know what to tell you. I know they're attacking humans, drinking their blood."

"And that's why we have to stop them." Azumi said.

"That's what we're going to do!" Pudding agreed.

* * *

 **[A/N:]** I don't know about this. Oh, I don't know about this. There are parts I want to write, parts I don't know how I feel about, and I don't know how much longer my muse will even be in PSoH! People, I am not making any promises here. Life is a bit of a train wreck for me at the moment. I don't know how often or how much time I'll be able to spend working on this. But I do want to start it. (I don't know where I'm going, but full speed ahead for as long as possible.)

I wanted to put in a big ballet in this story, and I'm taking the idea of making a ballet out of Princess Tutu because I really liked the anime. I've renamed Azumi's tag-along because I don't want two Mashas in this story. Um…Yeah. I hope this follows AnIn well. I want my sequel to be just as good as the original! Reviews are always encouraging, so please review and let me know what you thought!


	2. Chapter 2

**Shin AnIn: Animal Instinct II**

 **Chapter II**

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"Rising Dragon Lightning Bolt!"

With a final roar, the Baku fell to the ground, and the catgirl in the short black dress and grey scarf landed on her feet next to it.

"This is getting crazy, Masaru. Where are these things coming from? And why?" Takashia Azumi asked her companion creature, who was fluttering nearby.

"They come from space, and I'm still working on why, besides the fact that they can drink human blood." Masaru replied.

"They're getting braver." Azumi said with concern in her voice as she de-transformed back to her normal self. "When they first appeared they never attacked in the daytime. But now they do."

"I'll work on finding out why that is too, if I can." Masaru told her.

There was a dinging sound, and Azumi dug her phone out of her bag. "Aw man! Mint's asking me where I am! I'm late for ballet practice! Come on Masaru! I have to go!"

* * *

A tall woman clad in a trench coat and a hat pulled low over her face made her way through Neo Chinatown. She took the elevator to the thirteenth floor, and consulted a map when she got off the elevator before she set off through the crowded store, heading for one shop in particular.

In his office, Wu-fei watched through the security cameras as the woman stopped at the door to D's shop.

 _She might be a prostitute! A deviant! I've finally caught D up to something underhanded!_ He thought excitedly as he ran out the door, only barely hearing Chin behind him asking where he was going.

Wu-fei hurried down to the thirteenth floor where, to no great surprise, he found the store was closed.

Closed but not locked! He thought excitedly as he tried the handle and found it open. Inside, the Count was just handing a cup of tea to a woman sitting on the settee in the front room.

"I demand an explanation for this!" Wu-fei demanded as he stormed into the room. Then he recognized the tall, blue-eyed, purple-haired woman sitting on the couch. "Fujiwara Zakuro-san!"

She gave him a cool glance. "Count, who is this man?"

"This is Rau Wu-fei, the owner of Neo Chinatown."

"Fujiwara Zakuro, it is an honor to have you here with us." Wu-fei said with a deep bow.

"Indeed." Her tone of voice made the room temperature drop ten degrees

"If there is anything we can do to assist you while you are here, please do not hesitate to ask." Wu-fei told her.

"Mr. Rau." Zakuro began. "If you want to assist me, you might leave and close the door behind you on the way out. I have come here to have tea with an old friend and that is what I would like to do. "

"Old friend?" Wu-fei asked, glancing at D.

Zakuro took another sip of her tea. "I met the Count while he was still living in Los Angeles. The last time we saw each other was the day we finished cleaning the pet shop."

"Cleaning?" Wu-fei repeated weakly.

Chin coughed discreetly and took his employer by the arm. "Of course. Thank you for visiting us, Fujiwara-san. We hope you enjoy yourself while you're here." He headed for the door, pulling Wu-fei along with him.

Zakuro watched them go and waited until the door was closed before she spoke again. "Does he always barge in on you like that?" She asked.

"His manners need work." The Count said, noncommittally. "I'm surprised to see you here, Zakuro."

"Berry said you were in town. I thought I would come by and see. I watched this monstrosity of a building get built you know."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I was working my first job in modeling when they broke ground here." Zakuro studied the cake on the table in front of her contemplatively. Count D took the opportunity to steer the conversation away from questions about what he was doing here. "How is everyone since the last time we spoke? Miss Berry is the only one I've seen lately."

"Berry is the de facto hostess of the café now since we never know when Ichigo will be out of town. She and Masaya are doing a lot of travelling these days. Berry's boyfriend Tasuku is less inclined towards oversees and he knows our secret and works as a waiter at the café. Pudding's father is a loser from way back and tried to set Pudding up to marry one of his students, Long Yuebin. But when he arrived in Japan, he got a job and started working to help Pudding support her family. I think they will get married, just because he came and became the support that Pudding needed."

"I'm glad to hear that." The Count told her. "I suspected long ago that Pudding's life was harder then she let on."

"It has been," Zakuro confirmed. "But Yuebin has been good for her. He knows that she's a Mew, but he keeps it to himself. He doesn't work at the café, though. He works for Shirogane Enterprises. Brings home a paycheck every week and helps Pudding keep her siblings in line."

"Ringo still lives in Tokyo and works at the Café. She goes back to see her brother whenever Shirogane gives her time off. Lettuce hasn't changed much, though the rate of her plate-dropping has decreased to almost zero. Mint is working there less and less these days since she's about to co-star in the stage production of Princess Tutu. I'm a sponsor of the show and so is Shirogane." Zakuro hesitated, and then added. "You'll have to come by and watch a rehearsal. Give us your opinion. You must have seen some ballet in your world travels."

"I have." D replied. "But your hesitation isn't about the ballet."

Zakuro looked torn. Then she made up her mind. "I guess there is no point in hiding it, Count. Something new is attacking Tokyo. They're called the Baku and they're blood-sucking lizard. Takshia Azumi is a girl in the same ballet school as Mint. She's going to play Edel and one other character in the Princess Tutu ballet. She's a catgirl too. But her powers are different. Shirogane confirmed that she isn't a Mew like we are. We don't know what she is."

"Do you think she's connected to the arrival of these new aliens?" D asked.

"I don't know. No one knows." Zakuro replied. "And I think that's the most worrying part of all."

* * *

Ryou stumbled into the kitchen of the café, glad that there were few patrons present in the outer room. It meant he was less likely to be noticed. He yanked open the door to one of the cupboards and began rifling through it. A few cookbooks fell out, followed by some older, rarely used pots and pans and a few other miscellaneous baking utensils.

Keiichiro entered a moment later. "Ryou, what's wrong?" he asked, but when he saw that the blond was holding a hand to his neck, pressing against where his Mew mark was, he pulled open a drawer and pulled out a vial of Mew Aqua. "Here."

Ryou popped the cork off the vial and pressed it to his neck, overtop of his Mew mark. After a moment he sighed in relief.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Keiichiro asked.

Before Ryou could answer, Lettuce appeared in the kitchen and started loading her tray down with orders. She gave the two men a curious glance. "Is everything alright?"

"It will be." Ryou said.

She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded, picked up her tray, and went out.

"You can't keep lying to them." Keiichiro said, pulling the vial and Ryou's hand away from his neck so he could examine the mark. It was glowing, and the skin around it was red and inflamed.

"I can't tell them the truth either." Ryou replied.

"You're going to have too." Keiichiro shook his head and pulled out the first aid kit. "Is the ointment we came up with not helping any longer?"

"This time it didn't."

"So you're getting worse. The Fishing Cat DNA is starting to break down and your body is rejecting it." The pastry chef replied, dabbing some of the Mew Aqua onto a gauze pad and pressing it to Ryou's neck. "Hold that." He ordered as he dug through the first aid kit and pulled out the medical tape. He taped the gauze pad in place. "That should help for the moment. We'll have to revise the ingredients in the ointment and see if that will help."

"Whatever we do we're going to have to do it quickly." Ryou said as Keiichiro replaced the stopper on the Mew Aqua and put it away. "I can't keep using the Mew Aqua for this. Berry is starting to get suspicious about why I'm still having her collect it."

Keiichiro pulled out his mixing bowls and set them on the counter. "Tonight after the café is closed I'll help you revise the formula."

"I'm going to get a jump start on that." Ryou said. "Thanks, Keiichiro."

"Don't mention it." The other man said with a smile, but his eyes as he watched Ryou leave were filled with sorrow.

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 **[A/N:]** So here's an update that I wasn't planning on tonight! But I hope you all enjoy it. Someone reviewed the last chapter and asked if Leon was going to be in this story. I could tell you, but that would be a spoiler.

Please a review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


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